Sharing Literacy Interventions

1. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 5 Session 2 Sharing Literacy Interventions Assoc Prof Deslea Konza

2. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 Sharing Literacy Interventions • School stories in progress • Aims • have a working understanding of up to six school literacy interventions • share benefits and problems associated with those interventions • make tentative judgments about the value of particular intervention actions

3. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 Sharing Literacy Interventions • Table discussions - groups of six • Appoint Chair and timekeeper • Each participant has 10 minutes • Distribute one-pager • Outline intervention purpose, evidence used, what is being done, teaching and learning outcomes to date • Provide opportunity for questions

4. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 Sharing Literacy Interventions • Group summary using “Sharing Interventions – Our Discussion Findings” sheet • Common features of interventions • Benefits • Problems • Common leadership issues • Session summary and conclusion • Collection of “one-pagers” and summary sheet

5. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 5 Session 4 Evaluating Literacy Intervention: Building the Evidence-Based Picture Assoc Prof Deslea Konza

6. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 SESSION 4 • Introduction • What questions should be asked? • What data can be collected to answer the questions? • Need to consider wide range of information sources • Need to collect data on continuing basis

7. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 Areas of focus • Student achievement • Teacher knowledge • Teacher practice • School-wide systems • Spillover effects

8. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 1. Student achievement • How can you evaluate effects of literacy interventions? • What measures can you use? • What other evidence can you use?

9. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 Student achievement cont. • Standardised instruments • Teacher-made assessments; teacher judgements • Student work samples/portfolios • quality? • volume? • reading more? • More difficult texts?

10. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 Student achievement cont. • Opinion of experienced teachers? • Children moving through RR levels more quickly? • Is comprehension improving in AL? • Are children progressing more quickly in alphabetic knowledge? • Cite or include examples of • Student portfolios • Dated student work samples

11. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 Student achievement cont • What evidence can other other professionals provide • Examine SP, OT, Literacy Specialist, ESL reports • Interview or survey other professionals • What are the perceptions of parents, paraprofessionals and volunteers – and students? • Children more enthusiastic? More willing? • Reading more? • Using better vocabulary?

12. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 2. Teacher knowledge • How can you determine changes in teacher knowledge? • What evidence can you collect? • What evidence can you

13. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 Teacher knowledge • Have teacher conversations changed? • Is different language being used? • Are more accurate terms being used? • Different contributions to staff meetings? • What evidence can you

14. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 3. Teacher practice • How can you determine changes in teachers’ classroom practice? • What evidence can you provide?

15. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 Teacher practice • Do the classrooms look different? • Has there been a change in teacher feedback? More focused? • Is teacher planning different? • More targeted? Explicit? • Have assessments changed? • More? Fewer? • Is literacy being embedded across the curriculum?

16. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 Teacher practice cont. • Is teaching more explicit?? • Are children more engaged? • Is “feel” of classroom different? • Use of LPG as evidence

17. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 4. School-wide systems • Are there changes at the school level as a result of the interventions? • Tangible? • Less tangible?

18. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 School-wide systems • Changes in timetabling to include Literacy Blocks? • Changes in format of Literacy Blocks? • Changes in implementation of SSR/DEAR? • More people involved in school-wide literacy planning? • New buddy classes operating? • Word of the day/week?

19. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 5. Spillover effects • Are there any other possible effects of the literacy intervention?

20. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 Spillover effects • Has library borrowing changed for target group? • Library borrowing increased? • Greater range of texts being borrowed? • More difficult texts? • Examine library records • Has attitude changed to other literacy events? • More enthusiasm for Book Week? Premier's Reading Challenge?

21. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 Spillover effects cont. • Any changes in broader student engagement and behaviour? • Behaviour referrals down or up? • Reports of student engagement? • Changes in student absences? • Is there a new excitement about literacy? • More “aha” moments mentioned? • Do children approach you to “show off” their reading? • Are children more “word conscious”?

22. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 Sources of Evidence • Pre- and post- LPG • Standardised assessments • Student work • Surveys/Interviews – teachers, paraprofessionals, other professionals, parents, volunteers (esp. experienced ones) • Planning documents • Photographs • Journals

23. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 Evaluating Big Six Interventions • Oral language/early literacy experiences • Phonological awareness • Letter-sound knowledge • Vocabulary • Fluency • Comprehension

24. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 Oral language/early literacy experiences • Observation Survey (Clay) • Concepts about Print (CAP) (Clay) • Oral Language Assessment (Crevola & Vineis) • Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) • Receptive and Expressive Language Indicators

25. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 Oral language/early literacy experiences • Teacher, parent, speech pathologist, OT reports • Student writing samples • Improved oral comprehension • Greater student engagement in class • Journal entries

26. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 2. Phonological awareness • Astronaut Invented Spelling Test (AIST) • Sutherland Phonological Awareness Test – Revised (SPAT-R) • Other school-based phonemic awareness assessments • Improved letter-sound knowledge • Greater engagement in classroom • Teacher, speech pathologist reports

27. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 3. Letter-sound knowledge • Astronaut Invented Spelling Test (AIST) • Sutherland Phonological Awareness Test – Revised (SPAT-R) • Educheck/school-based assessments • Names Test • High frequency sight words (Oxford Word List) • Examination of student writing (Tooth fairy?)

28. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 4. Vocabulary • PPVT • Teacher, parent, speech pathologist reports • Improved comprehension • Improved oral language ability (journal entries) • Examples of students’ writing

29. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 5. Fluency • Increased reading rate; closer to year level averages • Prosody Check; teacher and parent reports • Comprehension improvement

30. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 6. Comprehension • Standardised assessments: IPI, PROBE, PAT-R, TORCH, Neale Analysis of Reading Ability • Informal assessments: Five finger method; Oral reading assessments (are more children operating at year level?); Running Records (record level of orientation); Miscue analyses; Cloze • Improved performance across the curriculum

31. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 Remember to… • Record all information, inc. disappointments • Present both quantitative and qualitative data • Document the “surprises” • Provide evidence • Cite examples • Short case studies of individual students are useful to present data from a range of sources

32. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 Conclusion • From the data collected, principals should be able to draw some conclusions about • Whether or not their intervention had a positive impact in the targeted area for the targeted group • Whether the intervention was more successful for some groups than others (boys? girls? certain year levels? ESL? Indigenous? higher achievers? strugglers?)

33. The Fogarty Learning Centre Module 2 Conclusion cont. • Whether there were any strategies or aspects of the intervention that were a particular “hit” with students (or teachers) • What resources were more helpful or less helpful • Where significant gaps in learning still remain • Whether different school-wide practices are now in place • Whether systems are in place to make changes sustainable